Welcome back to nearlucid. Today we’ll be taking a look at the gentleman65 suited edition,
a special version of the gentleman65 which we have already reviewed and found to be a
very unique and cost friendly custom. This prototype was sent to us by Jkeys for
review, but as always that will not affect our opinion or statements in any way.
My prototype unit came in the same packaging as the regular gentleman65, but the group
buy units will come in two separate boxes for the board and its accessories. We have
this nice ribbon here, and everything else is packaged neatly inside this latched box.
First are our 2 plates, one fr4 and one aluminum. The aluminum plate I have looks pretty rough,
but the final version will be e white and have standard cutouts.
Next is the top piece of polycarbonate, the beautifully shiny brass knob, and the hefty
bottom case. This is almost entirely due to this back brass weight. Lastly, the hotswap
PCB, screws, and screw O rings came in different packages.
Let’s get into the specs. The gent65 SE is a aluminum or polycarbonate burger mounted
compact 65% keyboard, offering both soldered and hotswap PCBs. The soldered PCB supports
split caps, split backspace, ISO, and 7U spacebar, while the hotswap PCB is fixed.
The usb port is situated on the left side, and like the gentleman65, there is no daughterboard.
Case options are mint, e-white, e-black or polycarbonate, and knob options are mint,
e-white, e-black, PVD brass, or Rose Gold PVD brass. Plate materials are POM, FR4, Aluminum,
and Brass, but you can also opt for no plate if you are getting a soldered PCB and want
to do a plateless build. QMK and VIA are both supported, and the typing
angle is 7 degrees. Finally, the base price, which includes the
PCB, is 240 for polycarbonate and 250 for the aluminum options, but will go into the
260 to low 300 dollar range after adding a plate and knob.
Today we have a polycarbonate unit with a PVD brass knob to build.
We’re going to use some durock v2 stabilizers, but this time I also tried out the clear tape
mod. This was introduced by Durian_SoftJoJo, who made a very clear instructional video
on how to perform the mod and its results. It’s the same principle as the epsi and
holee mod, and involves putting “dampening material” in the same region of the stabilizer
housing, but should be a much more lightweight and simple version that can address the flaws
of both epsi and holee. Depending on its effectiveness, I might make a stabilizer modding tutorial
video later.
For switches, we’re going with momoka frogs. These are quite interesting looking and feeling
linear switches and have been lubed with 205 grade 0. Since the plate screws into the top
case and would otherwise be pretty stiff, I’m going to use the fr4 plate.
We’re then going to screw the inner assembly to the top piece, and the top piece and the
bottom piece together.
On top of this goes GMK White on Black, and the board is good to use.
Let’s take a listen.
So this is exactly what I imagine a burger mounted polycarbonate board would sound like.
It’s high pitched and clacky, due to the mount, yet you can still hear some of the
hollow and deep sound that’s created by the polycarbonate case.
I also noticed that it’s less muted than the gentleman65, which is good. I’d assume
the preinstalled PCB tape backing does help with honing in the sound profile of the board
a lot, and thus would not recommend removing it when building.
Typing feel is kinda interesting. There’s a lot more bounce than I expected, and you
can see some of this in the sound test, especially near the escape key. And despite this, the
board still feels really stiff.
As for the rest of my review, I would recommend watching the gentleman65 review first because
a lot of my thoughts on this board are just follow-ups on comments I made there.
The board is noticeably hefty. Even though the brass piece is seemingly pretty small,
it really packs a lot of weight. The design overall feels like a much more developed version
of the original gentleman65. There are 2 pieces for the case, a top piece and a bottom piece.
The bottom case is staggered, each helping to add to the angle of the board. The top
piece is chamfered, while the bottom piece is not, and I assume this is a cost cutting
measure. And of course, the bezels are extremely similar
to the original gentleman, as well as the inclusion of the knob on the top right. This
is the same module as in the gentleman65, and again has a tactile turn and pretty heavy
click. The board also keeps the placement of RGB
LEDs for underglow, though the diffusion this time around is interrupted by the brass weight.
For a board like this though, I would keep it off.
The strange acrylic foot design that I found a hassle in the original gentleman65 has been
phased out in favor of standard rubber feet, which helps with both stability and building
the side profile of the board. And lastly, due to the design of the case,
the USB port is unable to be recessed, which leaves part of the connector itself visible.
For material quality, it’s a bit difficult to comment since I’ve only ever owned one
other polycarbonate board, being the NK65. And that was fairly low quality and is actually
cracked now, unfortunate. From what I can tell, the finish seems good, nice and consistent
with only a few minor scuffs on the back and bottom. I’m going to chalk this up as this
unit being a proto. When the RGB is off and room lighting is consistent,
the top and bottom pieces do look the same color. And while this seems obvious, there
are some polycarbonate cases out there that have mismatched top and bottom pieces, so
this is very appreciated. And you might have already noticed that my
brass weight looks super scuffed and has plenty of machining marks. This is only an issue
with the prototype, and the final version will be a pristine matte PVD brass.
Unfortunately, the screw threads do not have any sort of metal inserts, which negatively
impacts the overall structural integrity of the board. Because of this I would avoid taking
the board apart too many times, just so there’s a smaller risk of cracking the polycarbonate.
Obviously with the aluminum versions, this is not an issue at all.
So the high 200 dollar range to low 300 dollar range is certainly not low on its own, but
for a 65 percent with brass accents, is pretty fair, although I personally wouldn’t consider
it something to get on a “budget” per se. Overall, the suited edition feels like
a more mature and premium version of the gentleman65, with quite a bit of aesthetic and acoustic
upgrades, and is a great option for those looking for a relatively affordable 65.
And that’s all I have for you today. Thanks for watching this episode of nearlucid. If
you liked this video, drop a thumbs up. If you have feedback or questions, don’t hesitate
to leave a comment below. We’d be more than happy to answer. Also, these videos take lots
of work, and by subscribing, you’re letting us know that you want us to keep making them.
That’s all for this video, I’ll see you guys later.